RISING American R’n’B star Tinashe didn’t know what to do when fans spent three minutes screaming their approval at the end of her first concert in Australia.

Milking the applause pause has become standard schtick at most pop concerts — we’re looking at you Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Kylie, Katy Perry and One Direction — but it was the first time the 22-year-old triple threat had received such hysterical adulation.

“Taylor Swift is the Queen of that. ‘Oh, you are all here for me?’” she said, laughing.

“They were screaming for three minutes and I was ‘OK, thank you. Enough, you guys.’”

She will get used to it.

The talented singer, songwriter and dancer is set for a breakthrough year thanks to her current hit 2 On with rapper Schoolboy Q and will open for Australian hip hop chartslayer Iggy Azalea on her American arena tour in April.

She also has co-written on the recent hit albums for Calvin Harris (Dollar Signs) and visiting American girl group Fifth Harmony (Them Girls be Like).

And eagle-eyed television trainspotters will recognise her as Jake’s girlfriend Celeste in Two And A Half Men.

But it was her debut record Aquarius released late last year which had critics and fans proclaiming her as an artist to watch in 2015.

Triple threat … Tinashe hits the stage as hard as the charts and will open for Iggy Azalea’s on her US tour. Picture: Supplied.Source: Supplied

Tinashe said the challenge was now to not be a “fad artist” after the success of 2 On and her other “featuring hit” Pretend with A$ AP Rocky.

“I don’t know why but female artists have a lot of a harder time than male artists to reach a level where people take them seriously,” she said.

“For some reason, they never feel there’s room for everyone, that if there is a Beyonce or Rihanna, there can’t be another female artist like them. Oh, we already have Katy Perry.”

Tinashe

When she is not on a stage, Tinashe spends most of her time in the studio working on songs for her next album, her regular mixtapes or other artists.

“In this day and age, there’s a sense everyone has super ADHD; there’s new music available every single day,” she said.

“It is importantant to be releasing (music) consistently.”

Tinashe performs at the Metro in Sydney on Wednesday and The Hi-Fi in Melbourne on Friday.